The high street store, which this week announced store closures, has fallen out of favour as super-luxury trumps practicality
A decade ago, a plain white babygro and a simple foldaway pushchair was about as much as the most style-conscious mother and baby could hope for.
Fast forward to today, and the nursery landscape is transformed. Three-figure price tags, cutting-edge designs and special-edition prams are flooding shop floors as super-luxury trumps practicality in the children's fashion stakes.
This will come as no great surprise to staff at Mothercare, which this week announced it is to close a third of its stores over the next two years. Although the company cited extortionate rental fees as a key reason for its 110 high street shop closures, Mothercare fashion has fallen from favour at the same time as the designer childrenswear market is booming.
Italian label Gucci has just launched its childrenswear range with a little help from Jennifer Lopez's photogenic children, and Versace is about to launch its own kidswear line on the catwalk at the Florence trade show Pitti Bimbo in June.
Stella McCartney's playful yet posh line is entering a second successful season, and Paris design house Lanvin recently announced it will roll out a 25-piece ready-to-wear line for girls in New York next month. Prices have yet to be finalised on the Lanvin collection, but it is expected that fabrics will cost as much as 10 times as those normally used in children's clothes.
Alex Theophanous, CEO of alexandalexa.com, the online childrenswear retailer, believes "the market has grown organically. Women who love fashion and labels have grown up and had children, and the fashion houses have seen a lucrative opportunity."
Some high street retailers have been swift to catch on to this sea-change. At Marks & Spencer, there is currently a striped 70s dress for one- to eight-year-olds which bears a remarkable resemblance to a Marc Jacobs dress seen on the catwalk recently.
"Fashionability has become increasingly important to us over the years," admits Sharon James, M&S's head of design for childrenswear. "Parents are more trend-aware now, and there is not such a divide between what you and your children wear. It's accepted that you would desire new and exciting things for your kids in the same way as you do for your own wardrobe."
"As ever, I'm sure celebrities have something to do with this increased demand," said Linda McLean, fashion director at Junior – the Vogue of parenting magazines. "Celebrity families were kept in the background 10 years ago, but they are far more visible now."
But Theophanous disagrees. "I don't see a Suri Cruise spike effect on sales," he said. "There is a danger of over-fashionising young children – it has to be playful, wantable and cool."